Generating Innovation with Japan Series in Ottawa

 

Generating Innovation with Japan: Ottawa 2019


   

     Unique Opportunity for Start-ups to Meet Potential Japanese Partners


Major Japanese firms, from manufacturing to finance to services in a whole variety of sectors, are increasingly looking to identify new innovation from Canadian start-ups in order to improve their business practices and to introduce new ideas and technology into the Japanese market and to their network of global clients.

For Canadian start-ups, the Japanese market (GDP: US$4.9 trillion; Pop.: 120 million) can be daunting but potentially hugely rewarding. One of the best ways to enter that market is through partnering with Japanese firms.


This event will provide a unique opportunity for start-ups and major Japanese firms to connect and share information. Through reverse-pitch presentations, Japanese firms will explain about their technology needs and, during the networking session and one-on-one meeting programme, start-ups can explain about their technology solutions.


Through this event, we aim to generate new innovation through partnerships between leading Japanese firms and innovative Canadian start-ups.


Organizers

Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO)

Invest Ottawa

Ontario Government

Supporting Organizers

Invest In Canada

Global Affairs Canada's Trade Commissioner Service

Gowling WLG

University of Ottawa

Date/Time
November 6th
  
10:30-11:00
Registration & Networking
11:00-13:15
Generating Innovation with Japan (GIJ) Ottawa
13:15-15:30/16:00
One-on-One Pre-arranged Business Meetings for Selected Companies: Organized by Ontario Government at Bayview Yards (L204 Training Room)
※See registration page for details)
Venue

Bayview Yard

7 Bayview Station Road, Ottawa, ON  K1Y 2C5
https://bayviewyards.org/
Agenda
10:30-11:00
Registration & Networking
11:00-11:05
Welcome / Opening Remarks
11:05-12:00
Japanese Company Reverse-pitch Presentations
  • SMBC (Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation)
  • Furukawa Electric
  • Sierra Systems an NTT Data Company
  • Mizuho Financial Group
  • Hike Ventures
    • ※See Japanese Company Profiles below for details.
12:00-12:05
JETRO Services and Support
    • Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) is a Japanese Government trade and investment promotion agency under Japan’s Ministry of Economy Trade and Industry (METI) which provides free support for foreign companies to establish their presence in the Japanese market.

Presentation
 
12:05-12:10
Closing Remarks
12:10-13:15
Networking Reception with light lunch
13:15-15:30/16:00
One-on-One Pre-arranged Business Meetings for Selected Companies
  • Organized by Ontario Government at Bayview Yards.
  • An Ontario Government representative will reach out to you and collect detailed information for BtoB preparation.
Full Agenda


Japanese Company Profiles
SMBC (Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation)
Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC) is one of the largest commercial banks in Japan with over 500 branches and offices globally. The Corporate Advisory Division (CAD) at SMBC works with large Japanese corporations to address their strategic needs through offering investment opportunities, including M&A origination, JVs, and other business partnerships. The New York team is responsible for gathering value-add information on North American startups and private equity-backed companies and works as a counterpart to the 200+ advisory staff members in Tokyo and Osaka. CAD works with SMBC’s banking clients across all industries and assists North American companies in finding partners and investors in Japan as well as providing banking support for Japanese market entry.
Furukawa Electric
Furukawa Electric Group started business in 1884, when its copper-smelting facility and wire manufacturing factory was established. Since then Furukawa Electric has become pioneers in the latest technologies by addressing diverse technological issues. Furukawa Electric has released products in a number of areas, including telecommunications, electronics, automobiles, and construction, with the three types of materials it works with at their core, namely, optics, plastics, and metals. Many of these products have attained the top global market share, and all of its products have contributed to society in numerous business areas.

Furukawa Electric has established Silicon Valley Innovation Laboratories in California in 2018 aiming at accelerating collaboration with startups and universities in North America. We are promoting open innovation actively in order to realize our vision of creating solutions for the new generation of global infrastructure combining information, energy and mobility.
Sierra Systems an NTT Data Company
Sierra Systems an NTT Data Company is a Canadian based systems integrator that has a focus on cloud, AI, innovation and many other leading-edge technologies. We have 700 people in Canada. Sierra Systems is part of the $103B NTT family based in Tokyo, Japan. In Canada, our clients range from all levels of government, to SMB and large enterprise. We have been identified by several organizations as global leaders in IOT, Blockchain, Modern Workplace and Data technologies. NTT have an annual R&D budget of $2.1B that is spent on developing proof of concept technologies with partners around the world. We have a solid base in Ontario serving many of the large organizations based in the Province. Sierra Systems and NTT Data Company partners with all major software vendors including Microsoft, IBM, Oracle, Google, AWS and ServiceNow.

Sierra Systems and NTT Data Company is seeking tech start-ups with a focus on AI, Smart Cities or a solution in one of the following subject areas: Augmented Intelligence for Personalized Health Care, Reducing the Need for In-Patient Care, Health Care for Underserved Populations, Preventing Account Takeover Fraud in the life insurance industry, Operational Technology (OT) Security Improvements, Next Generation Factory - Industry 4.0 + 5G, Supply Chain Improvement and Optimization using Advanced Technologies, Automated Ways to Identify Potential Automation and Simplification in a Process, and Natural Disaster Early Warning.
Presentation
Mizuho Financial Group
Mizuho Financial Group is one of the world’s largest full-service financial conglomerates whose asset size nearly equals that of the two largest Canadian commercial banks combined. The Canada Branch is one of Mizuho’s 900 locations spread over 38 countries and supports not only Japanese companies in Canada but also various international corporations in the country. The Branch also focuses on providing potential alliance opportunities between Canadian companies and the bank’s clients especially in AI-related solutions.

Example of the AI solutions we are exploring include but are not limited to: image recognition for inspection in manufacturing, moving image monitoring for security, combinatorial optimization for portfolio management, and predictive analytics for potential delinquency.
Hike Ventures
Hike Ventures (www.hikevc.com) is a seed-stage venture capital based in San Francisco and Tokyo. We are looking for founders who are solving well-defined problems differently by leveraging AI. We are industry agnostic. In the past, we have invested in startups in healthcare, legal, supply chain, and mobility spaces. We work with our portfolio founders to raise money from Silicon Valley and Tokyo. We also leverage our network with Japanese companies to help startups at any stage to go to the Japan market.
Registration Deadline November 1st, 2019  (Closed)
One-on-one business-matching programme is also closed.
Contact

JETRO Toronto
Email: inquiry@jetro.go.jp   Tel:1-416-861-0000  Ext.: 205